Not to hijack the thread, but this brought up an interesting thought. This omits the effect of lower temps over time (ie, pasteurization), so the 140* rule might not really be as hard a line to tow as it once was.

This has been well hashed out in the sous vide threads, but if the internal temp was in the 134* range after 4 hours, it is well within the guidelines published for sous vide cooking (even if a little bacteria or two was pushed inside the time of exposure to the lower temp had done the job). If you go by the USDA poster, every piece of meat I've put in my sous vide bath was a lethal time bomb looking for a victim.

That is interesting. Before the wired thermometers and such how did one know?

I will only be rubbing the butt and not injecting it next time. I also won't be getting such a big butt, after pulling it, it definitely was a butt load of meat

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People took the time to learn their cookers. How they cooked and at what temp they cooked the best at. They didn't constantly open the lid and check. They know that for a ribs, butt, or brisket cooked at a certain temp that they don't need to be checking the IT til say 3 hours in. They also went by the look and feel of the meat because every piece of meat is different.
Basically they learned to cook without all the new equipment before they started using the new stuff. Just because a piece of meat has cooked for 4 hours or the IT is 195°, doesn't mean the meat is done(poultry excepted for temp). Learn to do a bend test or toothpick poke for ribs, probe tender test for brisket or butts.
Seems like now days people new to smoking think it's all going by a clock or temp gauge to tell if something is done. Then they ask why when it doesn't come out the way they expect it to. The time and temp are just tools to use. Not the end all.

I also don't see a need to inject a butt. Maybe if you were cooking in a comp, but not for general eating at home.

Again....JMHO-YMMV

I doubt I will inject a butt again. I had read in here where a guy injected a butt, the pics looked good, my experience injecting a turkey produced favorable results, I had a new bottle of creole butter left over from a 3 pack so hey, why not? If you don't try, you will never know.
The biggest takeaway from all this is realizing the need to make sure the temp readings are accurate and adjust as needed. This tidbit should help with future cooks across the board.

People took the time to learn their cookers. How they cooked and at what temp they cooked the best at. They didn't constantly open the lid and check. They know that for a ribs, butt, or brisket cooked at a certain temp that they don't need to be checking the IT til say 3 hours in. They also went by the look and feel of the meat because every piece of meat is different.
Basically they learned to cook without all the new equipment before they started using the new stuff. Just because a piece of meat has cooked for 4 hours or the IT is 195°, doesn't mean the meat is done(poultry excepted for temp). Learn to do a bend test or toothpick poke for ribs, probe tender test for brisket or butts.
Seems like now days people new to smoking think it's all going by a clock or temp gauge to tell if something is done. Then they ask why when it doesn't come out the way they expect it to. The time and temp are just tools to use. Not the end all.

JMHO-YMMV

Yup, I totally agree. I stopped using all the wires and probes years ago. Look. Feel. Take its temp toward the end with a Thermapen/Thermopop... Nice probes on both to get that feel.

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